Your story is so sad I am crying for you. My dogs all hit senior age and I lost 3 dogs in the that few years, 2 within a few months of each other. It's never an easy decision. Winnie is lucky to have such a wonderful caring family. I always try to think of the quality of life and as hard of a decision as it is for us I think it's harder on us then them. Big hugs to you and your family I know it's so hard. We just want to keep them forever

so sorry you have to go through this, as heartaching it is; you and hubby will know what to do when Winnie lets you know it's time to met up with the Angels in the meantime Porter and Winnie still have your time and attention to keep you busy and keep those scramble eggs coming. Winne looks very content!

Hey all, just wanted to update you on Winnie. The gabapentin was bad, very bad. Hubby ended up having to carry Winnie home from the brief poop walk he took him on last nite. The good news is that we were able to start the prednisone today and he is feeling good! Bad start to the day with vomiting, but I've decided to give him smaller meals throughout the day. He is enjoying boiled beef, chicken, and of course his scrambled eggs. I am just hoping to keep him comfortable and happy as long the Lord decides he can stay with us.

Best guess is 10 or 11. He has cataracts and is now hard of hearing. He has spinal arthritis and back leg weakness. The vets don't know the cause of this and just may be a result of long term malnutrition. He was 38 pounds when he was found as a stray. He has hypothyroidism and is well controlled with medication on that. He is...fragile. Always has been. I don't know if he can recover from a surgery like that. When my husband gets here we will most likely just love on him some. I am leaning toward NOT having the surgery. I don't have high hopes for a good recovery. I know he is leaning toward surgery. we need a liklihood that surgery can get all of it from the specialist which I didn't ask like a moron. I assumed when she said it "forcused" it meant they could get it, but I didn't specifically ask using the words...prognosis. Dumb azz.

This sounds so much like Barkley, it makes my heart ache. Barkley also has spinal arthritis and weakness in his back legs. When we picked him up from the shelter, he was so thin. He had ehrlichia and was covered with ticks and had scars all over his body. He has hypothyroidism also. Fragile is a good way to describe him. The vet wanted to surgically remove the tumor that is located just behind his ribcage on the right side of his body. There was no debate, really. I knew in my heart that his poor old body could never withstand an invasive surgery and he would never be able to bounce back from something like that. We didn't want to put him through anything like that, so we opted for palliative care.

I'm so sorry you're going through all this with Winston. I know how hard it is. It's obvious how much you love him, and you'll know what decisions need to be made when the time comes. Just love him every moment you have with him, as I'm sure you will. Feel free to PM me if you want to talk. {{{hugz}}}